Miscellaneous News

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Baby boy in China born with three arms

A baby boy in China has been born with an unusually well-formed third arm and doctors are considering surgical options for him.

31 May 2006

Canadians get tough with smokers

Today, May 31, 2006, the new Smoke Free Ontario legislation came into effect in Canada.

31 May 2006

Urgent changes are needed at the World Health Organization

Urgent changes are needed at the World Health Organization (WHO) to revitalise its role as global public-health agency

30 May 2006

Evidence indicates rising use of non-cigarette tobacco products among youth, especially girls

The World Health Organization is urging governments to broaden tobacco control efforts in view of the rapid spread and growing variety of smoked and smokeless tobacco products, and increasing use of these products by young people who may be unaware of their harmful effects.

30 May 2006

WHO says earthquake survivors need medical care, safe water, vaccinations

The World Health Organization is sending emergency equipment, and will help to support vaccination campaigns and set up a disease surveillance system following the devastating earthquake on the island of Java, Indonesia on Saturday.

29 May 2006

Funeral of Dr LEE Jong-wook

More than 1000 people packed into the Basilique Notre-Dame today in Geneva to attend the funeral of Dr LEE Jong-wook, Director-General of the World Health Organization.

24 May 2006

Charity calls for drug "shooting galleries" to be set up in the UK

According to an independent group of experts, Britain should set up special centres for heroin addicts to inject themselves to try to cut the risk of disease and overdose.

24 May 2006

WHO suffers tragic loss of a visionary leader

The Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Lee Jong-wook of South Korea, has died suddenly following surgery for a blood clot on the brain.

22 May 2006

Sperm donor passes rare dangerous disease on to four children

According to a new report in the U.S., a sperm donor may have unwittingly passed an extremely rare and dangerous genetic ailment to five children born to four couples.

22 May 2006

Commonwealth Ministers discuss human resources for health

Commonwealth Ministers of Health held their 2006 Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday, 21 May. The theme of the Meeting was 'Human Resources for Health'.

22 May 2006

New on the web: Independent, updated health information for the general public

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care challenges the language barriers in health and launches Europe's first bilingual evidence-based health information website.

22 May 2006

FDA says too much benzene in some soft drinks

According to the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. following testing the cancer-causing chemical benzene were found in some soft drinks; the FDA say they were not at high enough levels to cause harm.

22 May 2006

NIH panel says little benefit to be gained by taking multivitamin supplements

According to a National Institutes of Health panel there is little evidence to support that taking multivitamin supplements is of any benefit to healthy adults.

21 May 2006

Panel calls for expanded oversight of vitamin and mineral supplements

An independent panel convened this week by the NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research and the Office of Dietary Supplements assessed the available evidence on the safety and effectiveness of multivitamin/minerals (MVMs).

17 May 2006

FDA statement on Bausch & Lomb inspection

Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Bausch & Lomb a report detailing its observations at the conclusion of the inspection of the Greenville, SC plant and a related facility as part of an investigation into a recent increase in Fusarium keratitis infections associated with contact lens wearers using the ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens cleaning solution.

17 May 2006

EU ruling means food labels will be true and accurate

In a move to cut down on the number of misleading claims on food product labels the European Parliament has passed a new set of laws.

16 May 2006

Heroin plus pain killer proves to be a lethal combo

According to health officials and the Chicago police a deadly combination of heroin and a prescription pain killer has resulted in one death and 21 others becoming ill.

15 May 2006

Peanut - kiss not the culprit in Canadian teens death

According to a coroner in Quebec a severe asthma attack was responsible for the death of a 15 year old girl last November and not a peanut-contaminated kiss.

14 May 2006

No bail for six medics in Libyan HIV sham

Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who have been imprisoned in a Libyan jail since 1999 on spurious charges of deliberately infecting more than 400 children with the HIV virus, have had their request to be released on bail rejected.

11 May 2006

Extension of embryo screening will help reduce serious illness

A fertility watchdog in Britain, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), has given approval for the extension of embryo screening to cover a wider range of mutated genes, in the main those which raise the risk of cancer in later life.

11 May 2006